//------------------------------// // Chapter 24: The Faker in the Fabric Factory (Part 3) // Story: Sweetie's Mansion // by Moon Shooter //------------------------------// Scootaloo was someplace she wasn't supposed -- and that was about all she knew. She might have had an inkling that where she walked was important, but she couldn't quite be sure of that either. The only thing she was certain of was this: Specter Yield was nearby. She didn't know how she knew, but she just did in her gut, and that was enough to make her feel queasy, despite how much she tried to ignore the sensation. She was brave after all. If Sweetie could handle that queasiness, she sure as hay could too. Beforehand, moonlight that bounced and dissipated throughout the mansion allowed her to see in one hoof in front of the other as she moved. If not that, then at least torches or candles. Now, from some unseen place there was a new light, neither that of a torch, nor of the moonlight, but something else which held an ominous glow. And along with that glow, she would've sworn she could hear Specter Yield chuckling to himself. She knew the laughter could be anypony -- any ghost -- but despite being unable to remember hearing that stallion's real laugh, she knew it could only belong to him. As Scootaloo approached a corner, she slowed herself, making sure not to step on anything that would give her position away. If Specter was nearby, she hoped she might be able to get the drop on him. Though what she would do was still a big problem that she couldn't get around. She knew how strong Specter was. Hay, he could make spikes come out of the floor and impale her where she stood, just like what could've happened to Applebloom, Celestia's promise that he "wasn't" be damned. So if she were going to anything, she would have to make it count. Then again, would she have to do anything at all? Wasn't Celestia on her way down there just like her? Surely more than thirty minutes had passed, she imagined. So wasn't there a strong possibility she had she already gotten down there? Wasn't there a strong(er) possibility she she already lost? No, of course not. Scootaloo didn't want to think about that possibility because it was pointless. Because it was impossible. Yet still. If they lost the last princess this time, there was no way that she could do anything. The idea of losing what could've very well been their last card to play was too depressing. Sure, Sweetie was strong now, but nowhere near as strong as either of the princesses -- even with those cutie marks of hers (for whatever reason they were there to begin with). It didn't help that none of her friends had their cutie marks, which could've implied that none of their talents were there to begin with. For all she knew, none of them were elements anymore but were instead just regular old ponies. So she couldn't think about that either. Just spy on that old stallion and see what I can do, Scootaloo reasoned. That's all she could think about now. That was the most productive thing, anyway. If she were lucky, something might open up in front of her. Even if it did rely on chance, thinking that way seemed at the very least a little more hopeful. When Scootaloo turned the corner, she silently bit her lip. Where she was appeared to be some kind of secret study, with books on all walls that weren't some sort of passageway. From what she could tell, there were two entrances to the area -- where she was and across from her which seemed to hold a similarly formed passageway. At the center of it all was none other than Specter Yield. In front of him, there appeared to be some sort of crystal made hologram. They seemed smoothly formed, seemingly created out of wisps of glowing steam, images of rooms that she both recognized and did not. "Interesting..." Specter seemed to say to himself as he crossed around to examine what seemed to be a particularly long hologram. "I suppose I misjudged the elements. They were brave enough to leave the tea room so..." He crossed over to yet another hologram. "And the safe room... it appears they're trying to go there. Perhaps I'll pay them a visit once the Element of Generosity has finished dispatching that filly..." and again he crossed over to another hologram, chuckling to himself. "But these three think they're on the run now... perhaps I should send them a surprise in the meanwhile." And then he paused. And looked straight back at Scootaloo. "What do you think I should do, hm?" Buck. Had she exposed herself? Or had the stallion known all along she was on her way? In either case, there was no doubt that she had been found out. Scootaloo tried to run away, crossing the glow that came out of the hologram before she tripped over something. From how it felt, it was a rock -- an oddly formed rock she would've sworn hadn't been there before. Though before she even had the chance to hit the ground, two foal ghosts came out of the bookcases and fired two shots of ectoplasmic goop at her. The next thing she knew, she was pinned against the wall just at the back wall of the entrance where the passage turned into the room. The first shot had gotten most of her lower body, in addition to flipping her upside down. The second managed to get the top part of her head, forcing her head to also stick to the wall as Specter approached. Once he was in front of her, he crouched down and looked her straight in the eye. "Your stealth is much to be desired, little filly." Scootaloo simply scowled at him. At the same time, she could feel the blood rushing to her head as she felt herself getting a headache and her vision blurring only slightly. Or maybe that was just the daze from the impact, she couldn't be sure. She found herself looking at the passageway opposite of the area for no particular reason. Specter must have noticed this as he seemed to show a very brief face of paranoia as he looked behind him only to see the two foal ghosts, floating there and giggling mindlessly at the scene. To this, he laughed and spoke again. "Don't worry. If you're looking for anyone, I can tell you first hand that they are likely not coming. Applebloom and Sweetie are safely in the hooves of my new beloved. Hence they weren't foolish enough to fall for my trap. No one is coming to save you." What? Scootaloo would've sworn that for a split second that he worried that she had gotten the drop on him. Did that mean that up until she exposed herself he didn't know that she was present? Perhaps that meant... "What to do, oh what to do?" Specter mused. "I'm honestly drawing a blank on any reasons to keep you alive. Do you have any perchance?" Scootaloo didn't say anything, only glaring at Specter. "Hm. Well, while killing you would be fun, the matter would be how to kill you, wouldn't you say?" As Specter spoke, Scootaloo could swear she saw a glow -- a new glow of yellow and orange appear in the passageway. She dared not look in the direction, worrying that Specter might see. Because if it was who she thought it was, she could've had a chance not only to escape, but to end this all once and for all. "Bleeding? Asphyxiation? Oh!" He said excitedly, searching through his coat. "I think I even have some poison in my-" "Hey," Scootaloo interrupted before Specter had the chance to turn around. "Oh, so you do speak, hm?" Specter asked. "L-listen. Probably wouldn't do me much good to beg for my life, yeah?" Scootaloo asked, stalling for time. Specter stared at her, deciphering, then smiled and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm a fairly open-minded stallion." As Scootaloo held Specter's attention, she could see the yellow-orange form as two golden lines appeared from its head to connect to both of the foals. As this happened, the laughter continued on, seeming to grow fainter and fainter as though they were going away. Yet still, they floated there as though nothing were going on. Scootaloo stared deep into Specter's eyes, trying to make her perceived change as convincing as possible. "Actually... on second thought, I don't feel like giving you the bucking satisfaction." Specter bowed his head. It wasn't as disappointed as it was expecting. "Again with the degenerative language. Fine, I'll be sure to kill you." "But," Scootaloo interrupted. "...but?" "But I uh... I gotta ask. Before I die and all. What are you trying to do? You know, with all of this eclipse stuff." Specter chuckled. It was an ironic chuckle, Scootaloo thought. Or at least how she imagined one would sound -- dry and humorless. "So somehow you've figured that out, hm? That I'm using the princesses' powers to create a phantasm? Well... if you're able to figure that much out, you should be able to deduce my goal." "I-I'm still working on that. But seeing as I don't have that much time left..." To this Specter grinned. "Well, it should be obvious by now. To dethrone those ponies in replacement for a real royal figure. Not a princess but a king. Not a fake goddess, but a real god. I'm going to use their power to resurrect Discord and give him the power to take over Equestria!" "Oh huh? Well..." Scootaloo thought. Besides the plan just sounding like a letdown and overly complicated, she wondered if there was anything else she could do to stall for time. Maybe she didn't have to. The form behind Specter didn't move, probably listening to everything he had to say. Hopefully, that meant that everything was ready, and it up to Scootaloo as to when the trigger was finally pulled. "What kind of power, huh?" Specter opened his mouth and sighed. His eyes lit up for all of a moment before that glint disappeared. Suddenly that wild grin seemed to look a lot more tired -- though just for a moment before it went back to his regular distinguished look, as though he were making a face for one of the portraits. "It doesn't matter. It's power he needs, and it's my duty to give it to him. Though I'm impressed with you. Even before Sweetie Belle it seems you've discovered the correlation between my plan and the celestial bodies. Given your knowledge now, you might have discovered the larger part of my plan. Unless-" Just then, Specter's eyes widened as he looked behind him. In that same instance, a blinding light seemed to surround everything as Specter let off a loud scream. And to Scootaloo's satisfaction, it was a definite scream of pain. *** Applebloom couldn't think as she fell. She knew that if something didn't happen, then she would die. Which was why she wasn't sure if she was thankful or not that something did happen before she had the chance to die with how the world jerked around her. Just when Applebloom felt the weight of gravity trying to pull her into the depths of the unknown factory, she felt the softness of fabric beneath her as it took in her weight only to be stretched out again by unseen forces launching her further into the factory. Surprisingly, that was when she started to scream. The scream stopped when her fly through the air was abruptly stopped as she fell onto another catwalk. Not quite vertically to cause any lasting damage, but certainly not horizontal enough to have been painless. She rolled on impact and almost fell off the other side -- likely a fall that would've spelled certain doom if she hadn't stopped herself in time. "Uuggghhh," she moaned. "Why..." Somehow, she was still gripping the tape recorder in her hooves as she did. Carefully she got up, eying all around her and half expecting something to push her over the edge, considering how close she was. "You had your neck broken, and you're scared of a little old drop? If that isn't the funniest-" "Bah!" Applebloom didn't hear the last few words as the tape recorder clattered to the ground against the metal catwalk. She'd forgotten to pause the thing, and... was that Pinkie she'd just heard? Better yet, was that Pinkie she'd heard before the drop? Surely- "Theeee ooooone and only! I'm back, baby!" the voice on the other end of the tape recorder sung. It talked back. The tape recorder talked back. "Naw... no way... Pinkie?" "Well that is what one and only is supposed to mean, silly!" Applebloom moaned. "You're not-" "Dead? Me? Naaaaah. This is just a recording! Honest! Pick me up and see for yourself!" Applebloom hesitated before approaching the tape recorder. She picked it up and hit the stop button. She rewound the tape a few seconds. "-one and only! I'm back, baby! " A pause. "Well that is what one and only is supposed to mean, silly!" Another pause. "Dead? Me? Naaaaah. This is just a recording! Honest! Pick me up and see for yourself!" And then nothing but static. Pinkie, or at least this recording of Pinkie, was telling the truth. Applebloom paused before saying to the tape recorder, "...Pinkie?" "Toldja!" "Da... buh... how? HOW?!" "Uh... I recorded this when I was dead! Duh!" Yeah... that makes sense... wait, no it doesn't! "Doesn't it, though?" If Sweetie had to deal with this kind of... Celestia, no wonder she's losin' it. "She sure did! Starting to, anyway! Kicking you up like that, what a mean filly!" "Ya can hear my thoughts," Applebloom tried to say normally, but it came out closer to an exhausted whimper. "More like I can read 'em, buuuttt... I already made that joke. Besides, we've been waiting forever for this chapter! Like... 4 years forever! We should probably speed things along." "Four y-" "We made that joke too! Ah! What a hack of a writer we've got, am I right? Anyway, you should move on. Not too far ahead are Sweetie's things! And well... you'll see in a bit, but Sweetie herself isn't really in a good spot right now." Applebloom ignored the nonsense and focused on the last thing Pinkie's recording said, "...can I help her?" "Maybe! But to tell you for sure would be spoilers! Pause me 'till you find her things! Should be hanging around here somewhere! Then I'll tell you what to do next! Just tap the play button again. 'kay?" Applebloom waited, but was unsurprised when the tape went on and added "You know there's only so much tape heeeeere! Better do what I say and get moving! Else you won't have my sweet voice to accompany you while you get murdered! Hehehehehehe-" Applebloom shivered and stopped the tape recorder as instructed. She steeled herself and then began following the catwalk, hoping to find Sweetie as soon as possible. As she walked, things got notably brighter. Not so bright that it made the environment any less disconcerting -- if anything it made things only more so. It appeared to be day-time, though the filly's gut told her that anything past those windows draped in the purple fabric was anything representing the sun. It was a nice thought, but an easy one to doubt. As Applebloom went on, she noticed a set of stairs that appeared to go down. "Aw no... Sweetie..." She hadn't expected the Pinkie recording to be lying to her, but just seeing her sister's hat -- now (hopefully) temporarily Sweetie's hat -- and GCD laying lazily beneath it at the foot of those steps had her feeling nauseous. They didn't look tossed aside, but more like they'd been laid there. There was a word that surfaced in the filly applebucker's mind. She was no wordsmith, but the word came bubbling to the surface as she approached the artifacts. Resignation. Applebloom pressed play on the tape recorder. The tail end of a "-he!" squeaked out before some static. Looked like even Pinkie in her omnipotent knowledge was bound for some mistakes, even as a ghost. Perhaps it would've been hopeful if it didn't also mean her only lead on Sweetie's whereabouts has a small possibility of being unreliable. Eventually, Applebloom spoke. "What am ah lookin' at?" "Sad, isn't it? It's like she just gave up!" "Yeah," Applebloom agreed. She hated the chipper nature to Pinkie's voice, but (like Sweetie) she had accepted that cheer to just be a part of the awful package unraveling before her. Not like she could do anything about it. Clairvoyance or whatever-the-buck-she-had or not, this was still a recording. Arguing with it was as pointless as arguing with a laughing teddy bear that never shut up. At the end of the day-night, it was just an inanimate object placed to taunt her and her friends. "Well you gonna aaaaasssskkk?" Applebloom sighed. "...she down those steps or somethin'?" "Nnnnope! In fact, if you go down there, you'll die immediately!" "I-immediately, huh?" "Immmeeedddiiiaattteeelllyyy!" Pinkie said spookily. She didn't elaborate, and Applebloom wasn't sure she wanted her to. "Then where the hay 'd she go?" The filly paused before she added in attempt to please the mare, "...be mighty boring if that happened, don't you think?" "Now you're talking my language!" the tape recorder cheered. "But before I tell you... you ready to do some hardcore parkour?!" "U-uh... I guess?" "Aw. That doesn't sound like someone who wants to save their friend. Now. ARE. YOU. READY. FOR. SOME. HARD. CORE. PAR-" "YES! Yes!" Applebloom cried, frustrated with the ghost-mare. "Great! So here's what happened! Ahem!" Pages could be heard being turned over the tape recorder. Applebloom resisted the urge to tell Pinkie to "get on with it," like Spike had earlier that night. "This is the sad, sad tale of Sweetie Belle! Once upon a time, there was a little filly. She was such a baaaaad sister, her own sister decided to sleep with this stallion that could do a bunch a really cool stuff! Then the little filly got jealous and tried to kill her sister's first real love in a long time! Then blah, blah, blah, stuff happened, then she went to a mansion and did the same thing again! With a stallion that could do even cooler stuff! What a baaaaaad filly! Glad my sisters aren't like that, I'd love a necromancer pony step-brother! Or whatever he does! Anyway, blah, blah, mental trauma this, bad writing that, a flank load of a hiatus and then she heads to this factory. Eerily similar to the one you're standing in right now! Wooooooo wooooooo! She arrives! You know. After beating her friend within an inch of her life, but what are details, really? She hears her sister calling. She's sorry, oh Celestia she's sorry! She'll do anything. A-ny-thing to get her sister to forgive her! She'd even..." "...even what?" "Well... it gets a little 'red' after that. Not sure a filly should hear such gruesome details like what would happen if a filly threw herself into a pit of whirling, grinding gears! It's a little dark, honestly! Kind of a boring ending too if you ask me." "W-where is she?!" "B-but Applebloom! What if you fail to save her! You'd never get that image out of your head, you know. It's like a cider stain, it just won't wash out. At least not with the cleaning power of Oxy-" "Pinkie I know ya don't give two shakes about me or my friends, but please tell me what I gotta do!" Applebloom cried. "Please!" There was a pause of static. An irrational part of Applebloom feared she might've scared the ghost mare off. Or worse, she'd just start hearing cackling on the other side. Finally, the recording spoke. "...if you jump off the railing and onto those machines on the side, you should be okay. It's a little tough, but you should be strong enough to make the climb. Take the GCD and the hat with you, and follow where those machines take you. You might not need them, but you might not make it back this way either. When you see a hole in the wall, climb in. You should be able to find her from there." The instructions were so matter-of-fact, they caught Applebloom off guard. It was almost worse than what Pinkie normally sounded like -- as a ghost, anyway. "Applebloom?" "Ah'm here," she said into the recorder, half forgetting it was in fact, a recording. "T...thanks." "Nooooo," came the sing-songy voice of Pinkie pie that reminded Applebloom's stomach to turn. "Thank you! And if you still have the will to live after what you see, then feel free to play me again! Wheneeeeever you like! Looking forward to it! And don't die too fast! Hahahahahahahaha-" Applebloom shut the recording off. She didn't like what Pinkie was implying. Not one bit. *** "Sucks to be on the other side of the pain, huh flankhead?!" Scootaloo cried at Specter. He was only just getting up, and only just realizing that he was trapped. Around him, was a white-light bubble with runes and shapes Scootaloo would never have been able to even begin to understand. "Why... why you..." Specter weakly punched at the edge of the bubble, only to receive a massive shock. "Gah!" He was thrown back and bounced all over the bubble, receiving more shocks as he did, before finally coming to a rest. From a glance, it looked like he was completely knocked out. "Princess! You did it!" Celestia smiled. Not a hint of laughter or insanity in her eyes. Was she free? "Yes, I suppose we did." We, Scootaloo thought. We did it... she said we... does that mean that I just helped the princess save Equestria? Oh man oh man oh man... wait! Scootaloo looked at her flank and was stunned. "Blank..." she whimpered. "After all that..." Celestia couldn't help but giggle. It was a sane giggle -- even with the ghostly nature of it all, it felt good to listen to. "Filly... it may take a moment for it all to sink all in, now. For all we know, you'll receive your cutie mark after we walk out of this mansion. It's not always so immediate." "Yeah, I guess you're right," Scootaloo said, her head still hung low. She still sounded pretty dejected, and sure that she'd never get her cutie mark. Ever. She wasn't quite sure what she'd see there, anyway. A net? For catching? Who the hay wanted a net for a mark? What did a distraction cutie mark look like, she wondered. Or a "savior of Equestria" mark? "Now, Scootaloo," Celestia said. "If you wouldn't mind standing aside, I'd like to give this stallion his rights. Something that's been a long time coming." "H-his rights?" "Of course," she paused because she realized that Scootaloo had no clue what she was talking about. "That thing cop ponies give criminals before they arrest him." "Oooh... guess we do gotta arrest him, huh?" "Naturally," Celestia nodded before locking her gaze on Specter. "This stallion's going away for a long time." Specter moaned at this. "...what...?" "Right, just that... I figured you'd ask him other stuff. Like where the Moon Princess was. Luna? Or Rarity. Or Rainbow! Or our friends! Are they okay?" Celestia shook her head. "All in due time. Sweetie and Applebloom... and of course Pinkie and Rainbow, who I'm assuming you're most concerned about, they're intelligent enough not to get into too much trouble. Right now our main goal should be to remove Specter from the premises and whatever control, small or great, he may hold on the mansion." "Thought you said earlier you didn't think he had that much control?" "I meant it in a direct sort of fashion. As we've just proven, he's no omnipotent force within the walls of this mansion. However, I do believe we can safely conclude that with the loss of his butler and himself, this mansion could be considered relatively safe. In my own experience, the ghosts appear more docile without anypony instructing them." "So you're saying I could go out and look for my friends?" "Perhaps, though I wouldn't suggest doing so alone. The ghosts may be neutered, but that doesn't make them any less unpredictable. And there's also the matter of any remaining traps." "Ah. So what's the plan now?" "You stand aside, I read Yield his rights, we gather everyone from the safe room, which I imagine they are now, and exit the premises." "Not without the others, right?" "Once we're out of the mansion, we can contact Canterlot to take Specter into custody. We won't go far. You will go with the guards and myself and the other mares will find your friends -- and if Sweetie hasn't caught her by then, Rarity, and discover what exactly Specter was planning to do with Discord... if that in itself was anything more than a sort of misdirection on his part. And if there's any way to get myself, Luna and anypony else lacking a body, one, temporary or otherwise, it should probably be considered." Scootaloo was about to object to the whole part about her going with the rest of the guards, but the look in Celestia's eyes made it obvious she wouldn't be persuaded. "Ah... okay," Scootaloo nodded, eventually. "That's fine, I guess. Hate to keep everypony still wandering waiting but-" "Ahem." It was the "ahem" of some growing impatient pony that would have to keep her friends waiting even longer if she didn't get this done. "Right, sorry, sorry." Scootaloo did as the alicorn so she could be the one to stand in front of Specter. She walked toward the door that led out of the room, but didn't leave. She really had to see this part, since she'd never seen somepony read their rights in real life. And considering how little crime there ever was where she lived, she doubted she'd ever see it again -- especially given by the Princess herself. "Specter Yield. Owner of Yield Manor," Celestia started. "You are under arrest for-" "No..." "-suspicion of murder in all three degrees, corpse defilement, conspiracy to commit said murder and high treason against the Canterlot court and all of Equestria... among other things...-" "No... no... No... no..." Specter was gritting his teeth. This was all too good. "-...anything you say from this point on can and will be used against you in a court of law-" Specter then put his hooves again at the edge of the bubble. There was arches of electricity everywhere and... was he? Oh shit, he was, wasn't he? He was trying to open the bubble with his bare hooves! Ha! Scootaloo could even make out his horn glowing as he tried to make a dent in the bubble with raw magic. And the best part about it was that he was failing miserably. He was frying and too stubborn to realize it. He was desperate. Scootaloo could see the in those eyes. That face. He was livid. And almost pitiable. They were the eyes of someone who knew it was over. "No. NO. NO NO NO NO NO!" He cried, obviously not considering the whole 'anything you say can and will be used against you' spiel Celestia had explained in her monotone. "It WASN'T SUPPOSED TO END LIKE THIS! AND IT WON'T. RARITY'S STILL OUT THERE. SHE'LL TAKE MY PLACE! HA! And THEN You'll all be SORRY!" Celestia ignored him. What he was saying was slightly concerning, but it might as well have been jibberish in the end. The alicorn reveling too much in this karma-justice happening right here. "-if you do not have an attorney by your trial date, you will be appointed one by the Canterlot Court." "AND... AND... NO! JUST BUCKING NO!" He went on. "NO! NO! NO!" They'd done it, Scootaloo thought. They'd won. If only Sweetie were there to see what Specter's hissy fit. Sweetie, she thought. Celestia, she hoped that they were all alright. *** Pinkie looked up. "Something up, Pinks?" "Yeah... I think the story just ended. Or is about to, anyway." "Huh?" "It's over. It just started all of a sudden and now it's over," Pinkie sighed. It was depressing, Rainbow thought. "Kind of weakly too. Like a wet fart." "What..." Gilda muttered. "What's that crazy bitch droning on now?" "I think she's saying that she thinks your Master just lost," Rainbow shrugged. "...in her own way." The mare half thought the Gilda would just call her a 'crazy bitch' again, or react to calling Yield her 'Master' but instead, she laughed. Even with her treated wounds, it was still damned hard to laugh but did it she did it. "Really?" "Guess so. Hard to tell with her." "Figures. Guess he was crazy after all. Crazy strong, but just crazy as the rest in the end. Shoulda figured y'all'd win eventually," Gilda groaned and spat a bit of blood to the ground. Rainbow couldn't help feeling hopeful considering how bad off she was looking before. Even more surprising was how quickly she'd resigned to her loss with little to no evidence of it. "To be fair," Rainbow tried. "It was kind of touch and go." "You trying to make me feel better about trying to kill your friends and turn you into my ghostly little buck toy?" Rainbow flinched. "I didn't need to hear that." "Good thing you didn't." The two stared at each other and then broke out in laughter. Pinkie was saying something, but noone was listening to her. Where had this Gilda been all night, Rainbow wondered. Despite the joke and its context, at that moment none of it seemed to matter. Like Gilda hadn't tried to kill her friends or attempted to force Rainbow into being her friend as a ghost... and hopefully not that last thing that never got said. Rainbow was laughing so hard that it took a moment to realize that Gilda's laughs had suddenly turned to sobs. The good feeling was gone and the chill down her spine was back. "Hey, hey. C'mon, don't do that. You know I don't know what to do about you crying on me." "I think the birdy realizes she's going back to jail," Pinkie commented, still sulking about whatever she was sulking about. "Probably forever." "Pinks, come on," Rainbow said. "Nah, she's right." Gilda wasn't sobbing anymore. Sudden change, Rainbow thought. "Probably like it should be, really." "Gil... what happened? Why the hay were you in prison to begin with? Did you really...?" Gilda stared at the ground for a long time. Just as Rainbow was about to ask the question again, the grifon began to spill her heart out. "It... was an accident, I think, but yeah. But I wanted it to happen, and it happened, so it doesn't really matter what I think. Even if it was all for a second. You know what I mean, Rain?" Rainbow nodded. She did, at least somewhat. Nothing drastic had ever happened, but certainly things she'd done "in the moment" had ended in ways she'd never meant for them to. Who hadn't? "Well..." she sighed. "There was this girl I was seeing at the time. Clover. Not to be creepy... like it matters anymore... she kind of reminded me of you, so I'm thinking... yeah. I'm game. She had an attitude to her but could be the sweetest bucking thing. Unicorn, believe it or not. Always thought they had to be all high and mighty, like that Twilight chick. Or that other one you were hanging around... And... well, anyway. One thing led to another, and we started dating." "R-really," Rainbow said. She had no idea if she was blushing or not, but she turned up toward the ceiling in case she was. Gilda didn't take notice, staring down at the ground like she was in a trance. "She helped me out a bunch. Got me this job, and out of a kinda shit part of my life." Then something hit Rainbow. A thought. Gil, you didn't... was she the one you hurt? "Thing I didn't get about her was that she... she uh... well she may have been filly-foolin' but her barn doors swung both ways, if you catch my drift. I think... I think I was just a fling for her, really. A throwaway, because when I found out she was with him and that he wasn't 'just some stallion from the office' I asked her if she loved the guy and she said 'yeah'. I moved out not too long after and got a train headed to nowhere. And wouldn't you bucking know who's standing at that platform. Mr. 'stallion from the office'. Hah. And you want to know what else? The train was coming. And me? I'd only just realized I was standing right behind him. Just close enough to do some permanent... something while I wasn't thinking." "Celestia..." "The trial was quick. I plead guilty. I didn't even care what happened to me. That was supposed to be the end of it. At least until I heard the mare jumped off her apartment building a month after I was shipped off to Bonza. Crazy thing is... I told myself I didn't care about that either," Gilda laughed. "Just like I told myself I didn't care you were gone. That you had other friends." She leaned her head against the wall and looked up toward the ceiling. "Buck I need help..." "...and Specter?" "Him... right." Gilda's throat clicked. She shrugged and winced. "Sure, what the hay. It's over, right?" "Yeah." Gilda stared for a long time at nothing at all. Rainbow wasn't sure if she'd have to snap her out of it again. Then, like before, everything came out all at once. "Think... I was going a little nutzo already when he and that butler came. It'd only been a few weeks since I heard of Clover. I wasn't talking to anyone. Lashing out. Called me a violent inmate... said they'd extend my sentence. Put me in the hole. I didn't care. I was telling myself it was fine. Buck her. Who needed that two-timing bitch anyway... that kind of thing. Telling myself I was glad she was dead when I really... well, all of a sudden, I start hearing this screaming and laughing outside my cell. At first you couldn't tell under the rest of the noise of mares and griffons in the same block as me just talking, making deals, talking about who was gonna cut who. Then those sounds started to get quieter and the laughing and screaming getting louder. And then my whole cell block opens and anybody who's anybody and their mother bolts from them. Ponies, mules, griffons, all of 'em. Everyone but me who's just thinking her own thoughts. Saw a lot of them run by too. Didn't know what was happening, didn't care. Might've figured a riot started. Maybe some kind of emergency. Who knew? Then, all at once, all the laughing and screaming stopped." "...just like that?" Gilda nodded. "Yeah. All I hear are hoofsteps. A pair of them. Must not have been the only one to stay in her cell when they all opened up, because the first time I heard those hoofsteps stop, I just heard somepony screaming again. Then I heard something snap and then... there was just this sick crunch and... it kept going again and again... that crunch... that grunt... that crunch and uh..." Gilda's throat clicked again. "Then I heard the hoofsteps again. I remember the things that went through my head. That someone was crushing something. That was making the crunch. Then this image in my head that really stuck... and it was so damn clear in my head of... it was of that pony... or maybe it was a griffon, or a mule or... well, I never looked but I thought they were being... eaten. And... and I remember thinking... I didn't wanna be eaten Dash... I don't want to be eaten... but I was too... scared to run. Doubted I'd make it far with my wings clipped. It was all my speed. And somehow, I was... damned... damned sure that whatever was out there would catch me before I made it down the stairs. ...then he walked by my cell and stopped. That stallion... Specter... He had a stack of papers. Levitated in front of him all proper and shit. Records it looked like. And mine was on the top, followed by a bunch of others that trailed behind him. All of those ones had red X's on them. He stared at me for the longest time. He glanced back in the direction of those crunches and... then he smiled, looking back at me. And all he said to me was 'You. Walk with me.' And I did." Rainbow was stunned. She didn't want to ask what was next, because by the look of things, Gilda's story wasn't going to get much easier. Then her eyes eased up, only slightly. She still didn't look Rainbow in the face. "It wasn't all bad at first. Well... it was bad, but I got used to it before it got worse. He started by making it easy on me. Making me want to do it... I didn't believe him at the time, but he told me that he'd read up on me. He knew who I was and where I'd come from. Humble beginnings in Cloudsdale, the storming from Ponyville and on and on... buck, he knew so much, Dash. He told how I could get revenge on everyone who'd wronged me. Pony and griffons all the same. That the world was wrong and that I needed justice. Prison wasn't a place for that... That it needed to suffer. The world. And that all I needed was you. That would be what would make things right. And numb the guilt. Not that I had much choice besides to listen to him. I was going to die if I didn't. Or worse... Rain... I know you think what happened tonight was bad, but tonight was nothing compared to the shit he put me through for the next couple of months preparing for this night. I never killed, but I dug graves. I helped do rituals I didn't even understand. I got so used to the smell of rotting corpses. My eyes had become so used to crypts and... and the dark. I never stopped being scared, but I tried to... be myself I guess. In little ways. Keep myself alive, you know? Talkback here. Give 'em shit there. Mostly the Butler, but I was slowly starting to get my sass back with Specter too. It felt good. Gave me a little power. Then... this one night, I guess I'd let my mouth go a little far... I'd said something about his wife. Specter's. Hadn't met the bitch yet or her two squirts, but I figured if I said something I could make him sting, and maybe that'd give me the courage to really fight back. To maybe escape. He didn't like that, and the butler was already looking for a reason to punish me. They made me... appreciate how much freedom they'd given me after they stuffed me in that coffin and only took me out when they needed me for grunt work. I'd hear them talking outside with other ponies, and I'd kick and scream trying to get someone on the outside to hear me, but nothing. Eventually, I'd just stop. Just lay there in the dark. And listen to Spiffy's whispering. Night after night after night. The same preaching they gave me in the beginning. I need you to be 'okay'. I needed to hurt Pinkie to be 'justified'. I need to just let the world burn. All until tonight. I... ha... I didn't get it until now, but I guess that's really how it went, isn't it? Why do you think that is?" Rainbow only stared at Gilda. "I never died... my personality... the stuff that made me, me. But it was buried deep. And it was losing air. Forgetting bits by bits and... something just let me tell all this to you now. I... I think you must be right, Dash. I think it's all over. Because all this time, Spiffy, that butler... he was in my head. Always in my bucking head, I hated it. Hated them. Both of them. Lashed out at everything all the time, because he was always there. Wasn't even about Clover anymore. Or you. It was them. Always making me think I knew what I wanted... that butler was in my head. I... think he's still even there, now. But he's quiet now. And something just shut him up." Then, for the first time, Gilda looked in Rainbow's eyes. "What... do you think did that, Dash?" Rainbow looked long in those eyes. She looked in the reflection and of those eyes and saw something that made a chill run down her spine. She looked behind her to confirm what she'd feared. Pinkie was no longer behind them. "P-pinkie?" "Yeah?" Rainbow looked in the opposite direction. Pinkie was standing right there. Everything was fine. Rainbow sighed. It was true. It was over. She could relax. Everything was over. Then the floor started to rumble. *** "NO NO NO NO NO!" Specter went on. Scootaloo couldn't help wondering how long until he passed out or Celestia shut him up. By the smug look on her face, she was reveling in it. The filly considered telling the princess to get the lead out her ghost-flank, then remembered that she'd been forced to watch her friends get tortured by the stallion's lackey. She supposed the alicorn deserved this little bit of catharsis. Especially since she didn't have to do anything. Specter was frying himself by fruitlessly fighting the mare's force-field. Scootaloo was thankful that whatever spell Celestia cast, it didn't let the stench out. She could only imagine how awful 'cooked old stallion' smelled. It was around when Scootaloo was actually getting sick of watching this -- the novelty of the stallion suffering slowly dissipating -- was around the moment she realized the stallion was finally growing tired. "NO! NO! NO. No... no... no... ... ... no..." "Are you quite done, Mr. Yield?" Celestia asked. Then it happened. He smirked. "Nah." In the split second everything started, Scootaloo noticed the change in the air. It'd become lighter. "Misty" was the word that came to Scootaloo's mind. The change was slight but clear that she could see Specter and Celestia, only slightly less. Like a fog where the further you looked out, the less you could see. And it was from the very edge of that fog, past Specter, Celestia and the hologram he was looking at before, that the gunfire started. They hit Celestia. They all hit Celestia. Again and again, glowing green bullets flew through the mare and they hit her as though she were made of physical matter and not the ethereal magic she was. Every single one of them flew through the alicorn, creating holes and turning her to swiss cheese. There was no blood, but there didn't need to be. The intense pain and surprise were evident on the alicorn's face. Scootaloo didn't realize that she was on the floor until Celestia had fallen herself, and Specter was free again. When she looked in the direction the firing had come from, nothing was there. Nothing. No guns. No Spike. Nothing. "That's..." Scootaloo crawled but was too paralyzed by fear. This was impossible. This was im-bucking-possible! "That's... not fair, Scoots? Is that what you were going to say? Not fair?" Specter was no longer burned and fried from the princess' magic like he'd never been touched. Scootaloo realized this in utter horror. "Oh Scooty scoots, haven't you heard the good news?" "No... no...." He grinned devilishly. "Life isn't fucking fair."